Shorelines and Candles
by Nighthawk-Moonshadow
Summary: Sequel to I'm In Love With You. WillxJack pairing, plus a little bit of GracexKaren. Takes place between seasons 5 and 6. ON PERMANENT HIATUS :
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Will and Jack take a vacation to the Bahamas, and their relationship is tested when they get stranded on one of the smaller islands after their boat runs out of gas. Meanwhile, Grace and Karen examine their relationship during the rolling blackout that hits NYC that August.

**Parings**: WillxJack, GracexKaren

**Note:** This is a sequel to "I'm In Love With You". This won't be a songfic, though I may mention the songs I listened to while writing this. Also, no lemons, though they will get a little hotter and heavier. Hope you all enjoy it! I ended up missing out on the NYC blackout through a series of events, even though I'm right across the bridge and my area was affected, so details are being written through media reports, don't kill me if I'm not completely accurate, thanks!

Also, I've figured out the location of this in the actual show plotline, it takes place between season 5 and 6, as does "I'm In Love With You." Obviously, if I continue this, I won't be following the guidelines for season 6.

"Make me a margarita, would you?"

Will rolled his eyes and began mixing a drink for Jack, who was sprawled out on a lounge chair on the beach in front of them. The gazebo like structure with a drink bar that Will stood inside of was surrounded by palm trees and lay on the white sands of the strip of coastline. Directly in front of the structure, shaded by the palm trees, were the two lounge chairs Will and Jack had been lying in for the past two hours. Their chairs were positioned towards the ocean, where boats and random surfers had cruised by, while seagulls swooped and dove up and down along the silk shore.

"So, fat man, where are we eating tonight?" Jack asked as Will sat on his chair and handed over Jack's drink. In response to this, Will pulled the drink back as Jack reached for it.

"This drink can either go in your mouth or down your shirt, you choose" Will said. Jack gave a sigh and took the drink silently. Will only smiled and laid back into his own chair, watching the shoreline. "I wish I could live here" he sighed. "It would be amazing."

The two of them had arrived on the island just two days before. It had been a month since Will and Jack had gotten together as a couple, and they had planned this vacation in the middle of August to get away and be together for a while. When the decision for where to go came up, there was no question; the Bahamas was where they'd both wanted to be.

Jack pouted for a moment before smiling and jumping up. He put his drink down, then bounced over to Will's chair and plopped down in Will's lap, blocking the older man's view of the ocean. "Hey!" said Will, trying to sit up while pulling off his sunglasses and failing miserably at both; unable to balance himself, he fell back against his chair with a fake frown. Jack stuck his tongue out at him and pulled off Will's glasses gently.

"You're cute when you're pretending to be angry, fat man" Jack said, laying down on top of Will's body and pressing his grinning face up to Will's. They kissed, and Will pulled back.

"And you're annoying when I'm pretending to be angry" Will retorted. Jack gave a fake gasp of anger, and with the grace of an acrobat, pulled himself up by his arms and swung his legs under his chest, plopping down onto Will's chest in a cross legged sit. "Can't breathe Jack" Will said, pushing the younger man down slightly until his lungs started working again. "Damn, I think I'm going to have to start calling you fat man." He winked at his boyfriend in a teasing manner.

Jack decided that he wanted a little cuddling, and so he played nice. "I'm getting fat from all of your glorious cooking" he said, laying back down, this time his back to Will's stomach. Will wrapped his arms around Jack's chest and they laid there for a while, Will once in a while kissing the top of Jack's hair.

"So what are we doing tomorrow?" Jack asked, deciding that it was getting too quiet. Will picked up a booklet from next to his chair, trying not to move much so as to not make Jack have to change positions. He propped the book open on Jack's chest so they could both see it and flipped through it.

"We're renting a boat and visiting some of the other islands" he said, squinting and changing the angle of the book to see it better. "I'm guessing you won't get out of bed before noon, so I rented the boat to leave around one. And it's going to be just the two of us, no driver" he said, grinning slightly.

Jack flipped over onto his stomach and grinned at him. "You plan well, you little rascal" he said, giving him another kiss. "You use your evil lawyer tricks to seduce me into bed!"

Will rolled his eyes and pushed Jack off of him. "Yes, it takes so much to get you into bed, now does it?"

"Ha-ha, funny Truman. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a dip in the ocean and try to get your horrible smell off of me." Jack stuck his nose in the air in a taunting fashion and skipped down the beach and into the water. Will just sighed and shook his head, chuckling to himself. Getting out of the chair, he jogged down the beach to join his boyfriend.

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"Honey, could you get that? It's annoying."

"Karen, if I've told you once, I've told you one hundred times. You're my assistant, which means your ass needs to assist me, now get off of it and answer the phone!"

Karen gave an exasperated sigh and got out of her chair. Searching through the piles of papers on Grace's worktable and pushing them every which way, she finally found the phone that was ringing. "Grace Adler designs" she said in a semi-cheerful voice into the phone, while at the same time giving Grace a death glare. The contrast between her expression and her voice was a bit frightening.

Grace rolled her eyes at the glare and went back to what she was doing. These plans had to be finished by the next night, or else she would lose the job. So far, the room was turning out to be, in Grace's opinion, crap. She was trying to design a bedroom for a mansion that sat on an ocean front, and had a huge viewing window on the east wall looking out into the ocean. She wanted everything in the room to concentrate around that window, the focal point of her designing masterpiece, but nothing was coming together. It didn't help that Karen was being her usual unhelpful self; most of the morning the woman had been filing her nails and conversing with her "Jackie" on her cell phone. Grace silently wondered how Will would allow Jack to spend so much time on the phone when he knew the cost of the long-distance calls.

Grace only looked up again when Karen put down the phone. "Your mother called, she wants dinner or something tonight, be there at eight, blah blah blah" she said, making mocking hand gestures at the end. Looking pouty, she sat back down in her chair and began to file her nails again.

"Karen, you've filed those things five times in the past hour."

"Honey, don't talk to me about filing nails until you decide to take the past fourteen years of nail polish off of your own."

"I clean my nails every week Karen."

"So is that what you tell people?" Karen sniped back, not bothering to look up at Grace, who also kept her face in her own work. The two had developed their own Will and Jack-like retort system over the years, by now facial expressions were no longer needed to convey their messages.

"Yes Karen, and it's the truth, unlike what you tell your accountant when he asks why you spent five thousand dollars on prescription pills a month."

"Hey, why should he think anything else besides that I use them as bullets for my BB gun!"

"If he believed that, then your liquor buying money would magically disappear so that you wouldn't go on a drunken killing spree throughout Manhattan."

"Hey! ... Love you honey."

"Love you too Karen" Grace said, shaking her head and smiling. Now she looked up and over at Karen. _How that woman could even think people would care enough to stare at her nails, when there's more interesting things to stare at on her, is beyond me_ she thought to herself, subconsciously examining the woman's body, her eyes stopping at Karen's bust. _Life is so unfair_ she whined innerly, extremely jealous of her assistant at the moment.

"Honey, if you want to stare at my boobs, do it someplace more appropriate, like the White House" said Karen, inwardly congratulating herself on the witty joke. She was surprised when Grace blushed and turned her head away.

"Damnit, I wish Leo was home" she said suddenly. Karen looked up at her, surprised by the comment. "I don't want to see my mother by myself! Five minutes in there and I'll be a nervous wreck!" She flopped her head down on the table and sighed.

"Well honey, why don't you just ask a friend to go with you?" said Karen, suddenly getting an idea. Grace pulled up her head to look at her assistant.

"Like who?"

"Oh, me silly!" Karen said, putting down her nail file. "I need to spend more time with the little, poor people, and you're perfect for that!" Grace rolled her eyes and turned her head back to her work, pretending to be insulted by the comment. Karen gave another exasperated sigh. "Fine, I'll do it because you're my 'friend'" she said, making little quotation marks "and I want to provide you 'support' through this."

Grace thought for a moment, tapping her pencil on her desk pensively. "Alright" she said, turning to face Karen again. "But you're paying for, and or bringing your own booze." Karen nodded eagerly, causing Grace to roll her eyes and turn back to her work once more. _What have I gotten myself into?..._


	2. Chapter 2

(Thanks for reading this so far, it's gonna get a little hotter this chapter, don't worry :P)

Surprisingly for Will, Jack was up before ten the next morning. Will had just come back from a morning run and had found Jack pulling on shorts and a loose shirt in their room. "Funny, I didn't see any flying pigs around" the sweaty runner commented, walking over to kiss his boyfriend good morning.

"You slay me!" said Jack, rolling his eyes and accepting the kiss. "Next time don't use a joke from 'Horribly Cliché Jokes Digest'. And anyways, I was hoping we could have a little fun before the boat, if you catch my drift" he said, poking Will in the ribs gently with his elbow. "Although I'm not doing anything until you at least wipe yourself down, you're sweating enough for both of us."

Will walked past Jack into the bathroom and grabbed a towel. He washed himself off and put on the shirt and shorts he had left inside the room earlier. Coming out, he found the door of the hotel shut and Jack lying on the bed, flipping through an old copy of People Magazine. "Took you long enough" he said, tossing the magazine aside and wearing an evil little grin on his face. "What happened, were you too fat to fit through the door?"

"You'll pay for that one" said Will, suddenly lunging towards the bed and leaping up. Jack yelped and curled into a ball as Will landed in front of him. The older man yanked his boyfriend's legs down so they weren't blocking him and moved forwards, pinning Jack's arms with his hands and leaning over him.

"Don't make me scream rape William!"

"You would never."

"Damn, you know me too well" said Jack, peering up at him. "So what n-"

He was silenced as Will pressed his mouth over Jack's. He let go of Jack's arms and slid his hands under his torso as they kissed. Jack cupped Will's face in his own hands and pulled his head down more until the back of Jack's head was resting on the pillow. They kissed for a while, and then broke apart. Jack curled up as Will moved off of him and onto the other side of the bed, curling his arms around Jack's chest and kissing the back of his neck. "I love you" he said, nibbling on Jack's ear softly.

Jack sighed with happiness. "Ditto to you" he said, snuggling closer to Will. "We don't have to do anything for a few hours, do we?" he asked suddenly. He turned his head over to face Will, who moved his own head upwards to see Jack's face clearly.

"No, why?"

Jack now turned his entire body over to face Will and kissed him slowly. When he broke the kiss, he said "What would you do for two hours if you had a hotel room to yourself and had never gotten to do something last night?" He gave Will a grin.

"Drapes shut?"

"Check."

"Door?"

"Locked and bolted with a 'do not disturb' door hanger on it."

"You're good" Will said, moving himself to be kneeling over Jack again. "Very good." He leaned down and kissed his boyfriend passionately.

"Thank you" Jack said after they broke apart, and then he reached up to pull Will into another spellbinding kiss.

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_The previous night, back in Manhattan…_

"Damnit Karen, I asked you over here to help me dress, not clean out my closet!"

"Oh just hold my drink and shut up for a second" Karen said, pulling another outfit out of Grace's closet. "Honey, yellow? No. Just no." She tossed it onto a pile of other clothing on Grace's bed. There were a few outfits hanging around the room, having passed Karen's worthiness test.

Grace had finally had enough, and dragged Karen out of her closet. "Just pick one of the ones you didn't want to throw up at" she said, pointing to the outfits hanging about the room.

Karen sighed. "Fine honey, that one" she said, pointing to an outfit consisting of a long black skirt, a white blouse, and a black jacket.

"Karen, I'm going to dinner, not a funeral."

"Dinner with your mother, remember honey?"

"Right, hand it over" Grace said, taking the outfit from Karen. "Now out! Let me get dressed in peace!" Karen gave an exasperated sigh and left the room, dashing back in momentarily to pry her drink from Grace's hands before once again exiting. Grace rolled her eyes and looked over at the haphazard pile on her bed. She hung the black outfit up momentarily to begin reassembling the pile onto hangers. A few of the outfits in the pile ended up in a black trash bag marked 'donations', though Grace would never admit to Karen that she'd been partially right about some of her choices.

She had just stripped to her underwear when the door burst open. Yelping, she grasped the black outfit, still on the hanger, in front of her, as Karen took a step into the room. "Honey, have you seen my drink?" she said, looking directly at Grace, and failing to notice the awkward situation she'd just walked in on. An angry cry came from Grace, and a red high heel came off her foot and went flying towards Karen's head. The woman managed to dodge the shoe. "Well I'm sorry!" said Karen, rolling her eyes before bending down to pick the shoe up. "Honey, I need to take you shoe shopping" she said before shutting herself out of the room again.

Grace growled internally at Karen. _That woman needs a babysitter_ she thought. Her expression brightened as she imagined some sixty year old woman hobbling around on a cane after the still vibrantly younger woman, yelling at her to get rid of the scotch in her hand. _Someone younger would be needed for that job, I wouldn't mind it so much…_ her brain scrambled at the confusing thought. _Wait, what?_

Karen, meanwhile, was sipping her drink on Grace's couch, hiding a smirk from her face. _I've got to take her to a decent shop and get her some padded bras_ she thought to herself, taking another sip. _God, I should go in there and rip that one she was wearing of-_

She stopped herself. _Kare-bear, what is wrong with you?_ She could hear Jack's voice echoing in her mind. _I thought you got rid of that crush on Grace years ago!_ She would, of course, shake Jack off. _Of course honey, what makes you think otherwise?_

That previous thought about bra ripping would make him question her sanity. She shook her head and sighed. _I just miss Stanley, that's all_ she thought to herself.

Grace finally appeared in the doorway, giving Karen a glare. Karen just rolled her eyes and got up to inspect Grace. "Pose and turn" she ordered. Grace obeyed, twirling slowly so Karen could check out all of her outfit. Karen's eyes lingered a little while when she inspected Grace's backside. _Snap out of it Karen!_ She averted her eyes until Grace had finished turning.

"You're not even looking!" Grace whined, seeing Karen's eyes looking to the side. Karen just sighed and took another sip of her drink.

"Even your least disgusting outfit is enough to burn my eyes out, but it will do" she said. "Now come on!" Karen grabbed both of their purses and half-dragged Grace out the door.

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"If this was a soap opera, we'd break out the cigarettes right about now."

"Sometimes I wonder why you can't get an acting job; you know the business so well."

"Oh shut up, fatty Trum- oh forget it" said Jack, sighing and just curling closer to Will. "I give up; you win this round of witty retorts."

Will gave a grin and pulled Jack closer. The two men were in the nude, covered from prying eyes by the comforter of the bed. "You know, after what we just did, I don't know if I want to sleep in another hotel bed without spraying it with cleaning products first" he said. Jack nodded in agreement.

"To think of all the couples that came before us, all the babies made in this bed- wait, I don't want to think about that" Jack said, screwing up his nose in disgust. "Ugh, I'll never understand why straighties find the female anatomy so appealing." He yelped slightly when Will rolled him over to face him.

"Usually I'd call you a moron, but this time I have to agree" he said, chuckling. He pulled Jack into another passionate kiss, which Jack broke this time.

"It's almost time, we can't have another go" he said, pointing to the clock on the wall. Will grumbled slightly as Jack got up to get dressed. "Oh stop it!" said Jack, pulling on his shorts and shirt. "God, and I thought I was the sex obsessed one! Oh right, I forgot, you've been so sexually starved for the past five years you're like an animal" he said, sticking his tongue out. Will just rolled his eyes and got up to get dressed.

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The two women arrived at the restaurant in a huff. After getting stuck in traffic, they abandoned Karen's limo, leaving Driver to his own devices, and ran, or what could be called running in Karen's case, getting to the restaurant only ten minutes late. Those ten minutes however, Grace knew, would be gawked over all evening by her mother. They greeted Mother Adler, who attempted to comment on Grace's clothing, but had to finally admit it was a fabulous outfit. Karen gave herself a mental pat on the back; she'd done well in picking clothing.

Grace was right, after they all sat down, the first words out of Bobbi Adler's mouth were "I'm sorry dear, did my little dinner interrupt any of your plans? I'd hate to think having to eat dinner with your poor old mother would put a strain on your day! You must've rushed right over here from something!"

Grace stayed calm and sipped some of her water. "No Mom, we just got caught in traffic. I wouldn't miss a dinner with you for the world!" Karen was sitting directly across from Grace, who averted her eyes to give Karen a stare after the comment. Karen understood; Grace would rather be any place else than this right now, Cambodia would probably be looking very nice.

The dinner continued with Bobbi's usual subtle comments and Grace's retorts. After dinner, right before coffee, Grace got up and excused herself to the bathroom. She shot a glance at Karen before leaving, and Karen realized it was a signal to follow. Excusing herself as well, claiming in a sarcastic manner that her alcohol IV drip was running dry, she followed Grace into the bathroom. Luckily the room was empty, so the two could momentarily talk in private. Grace leaned on the sink counter and gave an annoyed sigh.

"I don't know if I can last through dessert Karen!" she said. "I was clutching my wine glass so hard that it almost cracked! Can't you pretend that Driver got into an accident and get us out of here?"

Karen looked a little hurt, but Grace chalked it up to sarcasm. "So is that all I am to you Grace Adler, a distraction and a way out?" she asked. Grace rolled her eyes and looked back at Karen. The other woman gave a little smile and whipped out her cell phone. "Driver, pull around the back of the restaurant" she yelled into the phone after the man picked up. Snapping the phone closed to end the call, she replaced it in her purse.

"Thanks Karen" Grace said, smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I just really need a break from family stress and problems." She was surprised when Karen looked down sadly. Then she remembered. "Oh Karen I'm so-"

"It's nothing" said Karen, shielding her face so Grace wouldn't see her wipe away a tear. _I do miss Stanley_ she thought to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Grace turned her around slowly and gave her a hug. Karen stopped herself from burying her head fully into Grace's chest. _Stop it Karen Walker! Stop it right now!_ she yelled at herself. She almost collapsed when Grace kissed the top of her forehead.

"Here I am whining about my mother, and you're probably going through a lot worse" Grace said softly. "I'm so insensitive…"

"Honey!" Karen said, pulling back and forcing herself back into her normal Karen attitude. "All this emotion is getting sickening. Come on, we've got to go lie to your mother and get out of her before I get sober." She turned and walked out the door, leaving a slightly confused Grace in the bathroom. _Why did I kiss her forehead?_


	3. Chapter 3

(Here's the next chapter. Keep reviewing and if you have any helpful criticisms, I'd be happy to hear them. I always like to improve my writings, and advice always helps!)

After dinner that night, Karen had driven Grace home after they skillfully managed to escape the company of Bobbi. The car ride had been silent, Karen sipping a martini with Grace chiming in comments every once in a while. Despite her reaction in the bathroom of the restaurant, Grace knew that Karen had been upset by remembering Stanley, and this was the reason for her quietness. Grace took this chance to reflect on her own marriage.

Leo had left at the beginning of the summer for Cambodia, and Grace had missed him horribly… for the first few days. Afterwards, it seemed like her life had gone back to before she met Leo. She had been spending a lot of time at Will's apartment, with Karen tagging along every once in a while. After the unsurprising union of Will and Jack as a couple (Grace had been rooting for this for years), the apartment became even more lively. Grace had woken up on Will's couch many nights to the sounds of moaning and movement in his bedroom, and rather than make an embarrassing situation even more embarrassing, she'd left to go back to her own apartment, telling him after the first time that they didn't have to stop because of her, but to try and keep it down. The nights she wasn't chased out by random sex sounds however, she slept comfortably at Will's, and there was always breakfast out for her, as it used to be, when she woke up. She was enjoying herself quite a lot this summer.

When Karen dropped Grace off at her own apartment, she had taken a bus back to Will's. Letting herself in to the empty place, she grabbed a pillow and a blanket and curled up in a chair to watch TV. The dull glow of the late night talk shows glossed over her eyes while her brain was lost in thought.

_Why don't I miss Leo?_ she thought to herself. She thought that after he was gone, she'd be a mess until he returned, but she had seemed to blossom instead. _I haven't felt empty or sad since he left, and I've been enjoying myself. Even his phone calls don't do much for me. It's like we're living totally separate lives, and the worst part is, I don't feel bad about it._

She thought back to Karen's emotions in the bathroom. The woman had been craving something, Grace could tell. She was almost positive that thing was Stanley. It couldn't have been easy for Karen, first her husband cheats on her, and then he dies, and leaves her with, well, millions. Grace smiled slightly - alright, so she had plenty of money. _But what about her feelings? Despite her repeated denials, I know Karen feels hurt and wants love again. But how can I help her find it?_

In a few minutes, she was asleep. Her mind would have to answer that question some other time. Smartly, however, she had put the sleep timer on the TV, so she wouldn't have to tell Will why his electricity bill was so high that month.

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"Stardate, August 14th, 2003. We are currently traveling north by northeast at a longitude of… of… oh who am I kidding, I'm no Captain Kirk."

Jack, who was currently engrossed in another magazine, took the time to shout "just don't crash the Enterprise, Sulu" from his seat on the bow of the boat. It was a small speed boat, not more than twenty feet long, with the steering wheel in the center, a bench seat in the back, and an arrow shaped bench seat that fit against the inside of the bow, as well as a captain's chair at the wheel with another chair next to it. Jack was lounging on part of the front bench seat, magazine gripped firmly to prevent it from flying away. They were currently speeding through the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, Will at the wheel, and the wind on the boat was fierce enough to rip off nothing tied down or put into a secure position. The wind also made it hard for the two to hear each other, as their words were blown away on the blasts of air.

"You know" Will shouted to him, "you probably will never see sights like this again, the least you can do is appreciate them!" Jack looked up, rolled his eyes, and stood, leaning against the three foot high control box in the center of the boat. He edged his way around until he was next to Will and plopped himself in the seat there. Tucking his magazine in a safe place, he began to observe the scenery.

There were little sand dunes sticking out of the water, where seagulls and random sea creatures perched. Jack gasped with delight when he saw the fin of a dolphin crest the top of the water. "Look, more queens to join us!"

Will threw a laugh to the wind and wrapped an arm around Jack. "Compliments will get you nowhere with them" he said, keeping his eyes on the water. To the left there were larger islands, though they were still only a few hundred feet long and wide. To the right was open water, which stretched for thousands of miles outwards.

The sun shimmered over the ocean as their little boat raced along. Will found the driving easy, and buoys warned him of any dangers like shallow water, so soon enough they had emerged into a section of larger islands. These were more spread out, but could be miles long and thick, though still not as large as the most inhabited islands. "Where should we stop for lunch?" Will said, and Jack pointed to a large island about a mile further down the way. Will nodded to him and steered the boat there.

Suddenly, the engine began to sputter. Will jumped slightly, surprised, and eased the engine down, hoping to let the problem die away. But the engine continued to make noise. Jack was getting nervous now, but they were close to their destination. Will steered the boat as the power began to die in it, and they floated into a shallow area of the island, good for landing at. "Come on" said Will, moving towards the small pull out ladder. "We'll check the engine to see what the problem is."

Both men exited the boat, and went to the back to check out the engine. Everything seemed to be fine, and Jack jumped back in to check out the control panel. "Get back in here so I can turn on the engine" Jack called back to him; he wasn't stupid, he knew engines could be dangerous. Will climbed back up, and as he jumped back in, Jack turned on the power. The first thing he saw made him groan and hit his head against the steering wheel.

"Jack!" Will cried, thinking he had passed out and hit his head. He sighed with relief when he saw the younger man lift his head to look at him. Will walked over and stared at the thing Jack was pointing at. "Crap, no!" he said, placing a hand to his forehead. The fuel gage read empty. They were out of gas, and miles away from an inhabited island. They were literally lost at sea.

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Karen curled into her bed that night without a martini for the first time in years. Her stomach had been doing back flips ever since she'd gotten into the limo after leaving the restaurant that night. She'd avoided Grace's comments throughout the car ride, staring out the window, her mind blank. She was afraid that if she started thinking, her brain would explode, or worse; she'd spill all her secrets to her friend.

She gave a sigh of relief when Grace left the car. Still though, she kept her mind blank until she'd made it back to the house. She'd even taken a bubble bath, alcohol by the side of the tub, before allowing her mind to proceed. When she did begin to think as she entered her room, alcohol just wasn't appealing at the moment; she needed to think this through while at least slightly sober.

First she tried to imagine Stanley again. Her large, brown eyed husband was standing there, smiling at her. They were hosting a dinner party, and the guests were just arriving to their beautiful manse. Beverly Leslie of course showed up with his 'business associate', and the two of them exchanged cutting but subtly so greetings. Karen remembered the moment with fondness. She tried to figure out if this type of thing was what she missed.

Stanley, though evoking much emotion from her, was not what her mind yearned for though. As she tiptoed through the confines of her brain, bubbling laughter echoed up into memories, breaking their solitude and reminding Karen of the truth she wanted to ignore. A flash of red hair here, a genuine smile there, and Karen was head over heels in love. But Stan didn't have red hair, his brown mop of a hair style no longer appealed to her. Karen's mind morphed into scenes that she couldn't admit to herself, erotic and dirty scenes from which she could not escape.

She turned over onto her other side and stared at the wall. A face began to morph on the outside of it, and Karen shut her eyes to try and block it out. But it sunk through the confines of her eyelids, searing itself into her mind. _Why are you doing this to me!_ she thought to herself, turning to face the ceiling. A little voice answered her back in her mind. _Because you won't admit the truth otherwise._

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"So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

Will had been sending out radio messages for the last half hour, trying to get in contact with a nearby boat or the boatyard. No response had come from the tiny boat radio, but after almost having a heart attack, Will wasn't nervous. If they didn't come back by sunset, surely someone would come and look for them.

"What are we going to eat if we get stuck out here?" Jack whined, curling up into a ball on the front bench seat. Will chuckled and moved from the captain's chair to sit next to him. "I packed a picnic lunch, remember?" he said, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend. "That will last us for a while. The most I think we'd be stuck out here would be a day or so; they're not just going to abandon us here."

This cheered Jack up slightly, and he proposed that they take time to explore the island and see if they could find anything interesting. Will had other ideas however. "There's supposed to be rain tonight, and if we don't get rescued, I at least want some place dry to sleep" he announced. "We're going to build a small hut to keep out the rain." Jack groaned slightly, he knew Will was on one of his 'streaks of motivation' as he was apt to call them, and this would involve a lot of work. He argued against leaving the boat. "Besides" he said, pointing to the radio, "what if we get a signal and we're not around to hear it?"

Will shook his head. "We're not going to go far, and besides, it's a pretty loud radio. Come on Jack, you wanted adventure, let's go for it."

Jack gave a defeated sigh and nodded. "Alright" he said. "But I'm not doing anything that'll kill the manicure I just got!" He waved his perfectly painted nails in Will's face. The older man just sighed and nodded.

"Let's get to work."

(Next chapter will be up this weekend!)


	4. Chapter 4

**New Chapter! Sorry about the delay, between finals week, the start of my counselor job, getting a PS2, and various other events, I got killed for a while in writing. I'm back and raring to go however. I think this story is going to hit about 7 or 8 chapters, 6 minimum. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

**AnonyMiss**- **Thanks for all your reviews so far! As for the whole thing about Karen being quiet, I know it's not completely in her character, but I figure she needs quiet time every once in a while, and I needed a way to segway into Grace's thought process. No shopping scene, sorry, maybe in another one. And as for long conversations, I'm hopefully going to get one in at the end of this, they can't exactly have long, drawn out conversations while two of them are stranded in the middle of a deserted island :D**

* * *

The branches were lined up perpendicularly on the sand, waiting to be set up in a cone like fashion on the white beach shore. The hut would be set up under a shady area of palm trees on the island, and covered by palm leaves to keep out the rain. The sand would serve as a semi-soft mattress. 

Will stepped back and surveyed the work he'd done so far, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He'd found a large knife in one of the compartments on the small boat a while ago, and rather than questioning why it was there, had gotten to work on the hut he planned to build. In about an hour he'd gathered enough large branches and small logs to form the base parts of the structure. He accredited his survival abilities to watching too many episodes of Survivor. While he'd mainly watched the show to ogle at Jeff Probst, he'd actually picked up a few survival tips. However, there was still something missing.

Will looked around, searching the beach for his boyfriend. He'd sent Jack deeper into the jungle-like trees about a half hour before to get palm tree leaves, and the man hadn't come back. "Probably snuck a People Magazine with him" Will muttered, frowning slightly. He tucked the knife into his pocket gently and headed into the mess of trunks to find the missing man.

The thinly layered outer mass of trees turned into a dense, Amazonian forest as Will walked farther in. He could hear different native bird noises and could sometimes see flashes of them in the sky. Odd plants and animals covered the floor of the place, jutting in and out and tripping up the human invader on a few occasions. Will had just slid off the trunk of an overturned tree when he heard giggling a little to his right. He headed that way to uncover a bizarre sight.

Jack was sitting against the trunk of a tree, having a staring contest with what seemed to be some type of African primate. It was a small monkey, no larger than a house cat, with tan fur and big, inquisitive black eyes. Its head was tilted slightly to the right, as if to imitate the quizzical look a dog sometimes gives its owner. Jack's head was tilted the opposite way, and his face was plastered with both fascination and puzzlement. Will wanted a camera at that moment, if only to finally prove to Grace that Jack was closer on the evolutionary scale to apes than the average human.

"Is he a cousin of yours?" Will asked, walking forwards. Jack turned his head and stuck his tongue out at Will before returning his gaze to the simian. The older man walked over slowly to as not frighten the animal, and sat next to Jack. "How long have you two been conversing?"

"Bout ten minutes" said Jack, moving slightly to lean against Will. "Watch this." He slowly put his hand out with only his index finger extended out of the fist. The monkey quickly reached out with his own fist and touched a singular outstretched finger to Jack's.

"ET phone home" said Will, whistling. Jack turned to grin at him, and then Will remembered why he'd come out here. "Have you collected the leaves yet?" Jack's face immediately fell.

"I was going to…"

"Oh come on Jack!" Will said, the leaping of his voice making the monkey cringe slightly. "I sent you out ages ago, you should've at least gotten something instead of playing zoo!"

"Oh come on Will, stop getting so uptight, this is an adventure!"

"Jack, this is not a game, we need to be prepared just in case something goes wrong!"

"But Will, I- wait, Will, how-"

"Why can't you act adultish for once in your life-"

"Will-"

"-totally irresponsible-"

"WILL!"

"What!" said Will, raising his arms up in frustration. Jack, now frowning in annoyance, pointed at the monkey.

"I'm no scientist, but how did a monkey get on a deserted tropical island all by itself?"

Will shut his mouth and turned to stare at the monkey. The animal had been frightened by the two men arguing and was now on a branch a ways away, watching them intently. When it saw that both men were staring at it, it became even more nervous and instinct told it that they were getting ready to attack.

"Did you see a collar?"

"No, but maybe it could lead us to its owner. Get it before it- Hey!"

The monkey had taken off into the trees, and the two men raced after it. "If you make one joke about monkey business, I will throw a hissy fit!" Jack called out through haphazard breaths, racing slightly ahead of Will through the undergrowth.

"Too much going on now, I'll save it for later."

---------------

The wall clock chimed quietly through the Manhattan office, but with the lack of noise it sounded like a gong going off. It sent Grace shooting up into a standing position out of her seat, her face going from one of tired boredom to surprised confusion. It took her a few seconds to realize what the noise was, and when she had, she settled back with a yawn into her seat and poured her eyes over the drawings in front of her.

Crap. Once again, that's what this room was turning into. Grace had tried a new direction for the mansion bedroom, but it still looked horrible, as gaudy as Bjork's swan outfit.

_Total Karen joke_ she thought to herself, smiling slightly. It was then that she realized something, and turned her head to look at her assistant's desk. Karen was over an hour late of being late. It was almost one, and Grace had been spending most of the morning drooling on papers during little naps and sharpening over-sharpened pencils. Usually by this time, Karen was on her 3rd drink of the work day, and her 5th of the overall day. They'd be making their usual conversation; Grace would chide Karen about alcohol, and Karen would fix herself another drink and spot a new fashion disaster joke to shut up her boss.

As if by magic, Karen strode in the office a moment after Grace's last though. Her eyes were swimming with alcohol as usual, and she greeted Grace in her cheery, high pitched voice. _It's like she doesn't remember what happened last night_ Grace thought, speaking back her own usual response to the woman. The normal conversations began to play out once more, and the office returned to its average pace.

Karen's cell phone rang in the middle of her afternoon martini break. She flipped it open to take the call, with Grace watching the woman out of the corner of her eye. To her surprise, she watched her assistant's face go from cheery and sly to angry and spiteful in a matter of seconds; obviously the caller was not a favorite of the woman's.

"_Is Drunky on the line, or is this the husky voiced man holding her vomit bag?_" chimed the grating British accent over the phone line. Karen's brow creased into an expression of annoyed anger. _Lorraine Finster_ she thought, growling slightly at the insult, the noise loud enough to be picked up on the phone. The voice on the other end gave a chuckle and continued. "_I guess the former was the correct guess. You might want to take something for that throat problem you seem to be having, I'm betting that you've already got something for it in your private pharmacy anyways._"

"Tell me, did you become a whore through need or did you have enough STDs already to acquire the position?" responded Karen, glaring down at the desk and imagining Lorraine's face. She proceeded to pick up a pencil and stab it into the eye socket of the ghost profile, imagining the after effects with glee. "What do you want?"

"_Your money_" the mistress said, her voice staying ever so cheery. "_But anyways, I've got a proposition for you. Do you remember that cheery little boat ride we took back after Stan's funeral?_"

Karen responded to the question with an annoyed grunt. "_Well good. I happen to have here some very interesting footage from that boat ride that I picked up before I left, namely two of your little male friends_." Karen's brain perked up when she heard the words _male friends_.

"Will and Jack?" she asked, her interest growing. A light bulb suddenly went off in her head, and her eyes widened in shock. _That bitch stole the tape! Damnit, I told Rosie to destroy it! That's it, she's getting a shock collar so I can discipline her properly._

"_Ah yes, that's what their names were_" she said. "_And these two lads are, shall we say, 'getting jiggy wit-_"

"I swear to God, Lorraine Finster, I'd better get that tape back before the day is through, or you won't have a vagina left to whore out" she said angrily. Grace, who had been listening, jumped in surprise at Karen's raging turn. _What's going on in that phone call?_ she thought, trying not to show that she was listening.

"_Now, Karen, what's the fun of having a sex tape if you can't make any money off of it? Of course, I'm in a bit of a bind here. On one hand I could market it, sell it to the eager masses, and make a decent amount of money. It would embarrass the 'stars' of the show and probably ruin their relationship as a couple. It would also probably ruin the relationship they have with you, since you lied to them and allowed the tape to get into the public. On the other hand, I could demand ransom and make millions, as well as get you to become virtually, my 'bitch'. So which option will it be, Karen? I'll let you decide. Give me a response by tomorrow night, or I pull out Ron Jeremy's phone number and get started on production._" There was a click, and the shocked Karen was left to a dial tone in her ear.

Grace watched Karen place the phone back in the receiver and stare at the desk for a few moments before going for the martini to her right. "What's wrong?" she asked, wondering what had happened on the call. Karen put on the façade of her old smile.

"Rosie and I were practicing lines from Jack's new play, 'The Whore of Manhattan" she chimed, pretending that nothing had happened. Grace, however, was smarter than to be fooled by Karen's faux expression. _Something's definitely up_ she thought, staring intently at Karen for a few moments. The woman's eyes pleaded with Grace to drop the subject, and Grace gave a little sigh before complying and returning to her work. Soon the office was once again back to its normal routine. However, there was a little more shake in Karen's hand as she held her martini glass, and it wasn't from the alcohol.

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That's all for now, the next chapter will be up as soon as possible! At this rate, it looks like we'll be hitting about 7 chapters, but don't' quote me on it. Comments and feedback appreciated!**

**Also, I've got a question, does Karen know Lyle Finster as of yet? I'm not sure if she met him before Stan's death, but it'd be nice to know. It's not imperative to the story, but I don't want to have any mention of that relationship if it hasn't started yet!**

**I'll try to respond to all questions that are left on the review page, in my next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back and raring to go! Here's your next chapter, hope you enjoy! This chapter was written mostly to the songs "If Only" by Hoobastank, "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls, and "The Memory Will Never Die" by Default.**

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It was almost sunset by the time the two men returned to their beach shelter. Both men hobbled, panting with scratchy gasps, out of the cluster of palm trees and onto the sandy white shores. "That was horrible" said Jack, placing the back of his palm to his brow dramatically, and letting his knees collapse under him till he was sitting. "And we didn't even catch the monkey!"

Will walked past him slowly, holding onto multiple long, smooth palm tree leaves that he had picked up on their way back. Jack watched him walk over to the skeletal shelter and begin to apply the covering of leaves, slowly working them into place with his already calloused hands. He winced after getting a splinter from the wood, and suddenly turned to face Jack, glaring slightly.

"Would you at least help me with this?" he asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible. He was pissed at Jack, who had been of little help during the chase of the monkey. The 'man-child', as Will was now referring to Jack in his mind, had mostly been tripping either himself or Will up throughout the ordeal; Jack was quite the klutz. Will blamed his boyfriend for the now twisted ankle he had to deal with, which had happened when Jack tried to 'help' Will when they had the primate cornered. It had resulted in both a new injury for Will, as well as the monkey escaping. _And now he's not even helping to finish the shelter!_ Will thought, waiting for a response from the other man.

"Awwww, alright."

Will fumed at this response. _Alright, alright! Like it's so hard for him to help at once when I've been doing all the work here! How can he be so… so ungrateful!_

"Never mind if you're going to whine" barked Will, as Jack overdramatically began to get off of the ground. "I'll do it myself, just sit on your ass and wait." Jack's face slumped into one of hurt and annoyance; he recognized the signs of what he called 'bitchy Will' coming on. It started with curt orders and eventually led to Will turning into Grace's mother, chiding him about being lazy and childish.

_What'd I do now!_ he thought to himself, watching Will work slowly but fiercely on the shelter. _He's always getting mad at something or someone. Hey, I did work too, I'm tired. Isn't he supposed to be the big worker bee anyways?_ He continued to watch the man work, saying nothing so as to not incite any fighting early, so that he could prepare his usual defenses.

After the last leaf was put into place, Will strode down the beach into the ocean and dove in to the calm waves, flipping onto his back and floating in the water. Jack, surprised at the move and unable to contain his anxiety over the situation any longer, stood and walked into the shallow water after him. He noted the dark clouds forming overhead and shuddered; their presence was ominous of the argument and the storm he knew was coming.

"So are you going to say anything, or are you just going to try to use your death glare on me?" Jack asked, tapping his foot impatiently as his boyfriend floated in the shallow waters in front of him. Will ignored him and continued staring up at the sky, pretending not to hear Jack's semi-subtle sighs of annoyance. "Will, come on! You always get cranky over the stupidest of things, this isn't any different! Plus, don't you know that bitchiness attracts fat molecules?" he asked with a sly smile, trying a fat joke to lighten the mood. "Looking at your waistline, I'm guessing not."

Will sat up in the water as a crackle of thunder plunged through the sky. "This isn't stupid, Jack McFarland!" he yelled, standing up suddenly. Jack took a step back, surprised at how angry Will seemed. "This is a dangerous situation, and you're acting like it's a trip to the park!" He stepped towards Jack, ready to explode his frustration on him.

"I've been working all day to make a place for us to safely sleep in, and you've been sitting on your ass, playing with monkeys and reading People Magazine! And when I ask you to do one thing for me, one thing, you whine about it, as if it's the most impossible task in the world! You, Jack McFarland" he said, pointing at him, "are lazy, irresponsible, and take advantage of people!"

The last accusation cut deeply into Jack. He'd heard all the others about being lazy and whiny. But taking advantage of people? No, impossible, he'd never do that, especially not to Will. He loved Will; he'd never take advantage of him, right? _Do I really do that?_

Will sighed, letting out the last of his frustration, and walked past Jack, out of the water. The sun was just clipping the end of the horizon, and storm clouds were gathering in bundlefolds as he walked up the beach. "I'm turning in for the night" he called back to Jack. "Hopefully someone will pick us up tomorrow. Get some sleep." He strode into the hut and left the astonished Jack still on the beach as the clouds broke open and rain began to fall.

_I need time to think_ thought Jack, looking towards the darkened palm trees in front of him. As the wind began to whip around him, he descended into the foliage to ponder Will's accusations, plodding along depressed into the cooling night.

----------------

At 4:15, the power went out.

Both women instantly noted the power outage. Karen was drying her nails under her portable nail hardener, and Grace was using a lamp to read the ridiculously fine print on a document in front of her. "Oh crap" said the redhead, looking up from her lamp at Karen. The other woman just shrugged and put the nail hardener away, deciding to read from a magazine instead. Grace pulled a flashlight out from storage and went back to her work.

A half hour later, the block began to get a lot noisier. Both women ignored the sounds outside until it was too much; they had to see what was going on. Grace put down the flashlight and pulled open the window shades. Peering out of the window, she gasped when she saw crowds of people walking down the street before her, a flood of commuters like she'd never seen. "What the hell is going on?" she shouted out the window. A few people turned up to stare at her.

One guy shouted out from the crowd. "City wide power outage!" he said, stopping to speak clearly. "It's shut down the subways and most commuter traffic!" Grace waved thanks as she turned back into the room.

"Karen, ther-"

"No need honey" said Karen, a pair of headphones on her ears. The headphones were attached to a portable AM/FM radio; apparently there were still hidden depths of Karen's purse that Grace didn't know about. She removed the headphones and put the radio away. "And it's not just the city; it's the entire East Coast. From Mooseland to Amish Country, there's no power to be seen." She sipped her martini, watching Grace's jaw drop even lower than its former position.

After she was done gaping at both Karen and the news she had revealed, Grace pulled her jaw back up and thought a moment. "I guess we're done with work for the day" she said, beginning to pack up. "Hopefully this will all clear up before I get back home, I've got to walk anyways, so that should take a while."

Karen's stomach twisted into knots as Grace moved to collect her things. _What if I need to subtly ask someone for advice about this problem with Lorraine! Rosie's no good, I need someone oblivious to talk to! I need Grace Adler!_

"Shit" Karen said suddenly, coming up with an idea. Grace looked up as Karen furrowed her brow in a pretend look of anxiousness. "The Manse just got a new security system of card key locks, I can't get in without electricity running" she said, the lie pouring out easily from experience. She gave an exaggerated sigh and sipped her martini again. "Guess I'll have to hang out here until the power comes back on." Her eyes darted over to Grace, who took the hint and put down her briefcase.

"Guess I'm staying with you here then" she said. "I'll order a pizza and get some candles for when it gets dark." She dialed the phone as Karen sat back in her chair, satisfied. _A candlelight dinner with Grace Adler, what fun._ The thought shocked her slightly, so she gave herself an internal scolding. _Keep your mind out of that particular gutter, Karen Walker!_

------------------

Jack had found a slightly protected area of foliage next to a tree trunk that had fallen over and was rotting. He crawled up next to the trunk, soaked from the pounding thunder storm and the tears running down his cheeks. He looked like a small child, huddled in silence in the damp sandy dirt, his knees up to his chest and hit chin resting on top.

As he had been wandering through the darkened forest, his mind was awash in waves of distorted thought. _Am I really that cheap? _he had thought over and over, stumbling over branches and plants as the rain soaked into his t-shirt. His hair was matted to his forehead in black spikes, and his normally brilliantly bright eyes were dulled and pained. _I made him hate me. Damnit Jack, you did it again! Will was always right; I can never have a long term relationship with a guy. Maybe he just told me the real reason why I can't have one…_

Jack sighed into his knees as he huddled against the rotting wood. He stared at himself in the pools of water condensing on the ground before him. _You've waited thirty something years just to fuck it up? You should be ashamed of yourself Jack McFarland. You couldn't even realize the truth in front of you; you're so needy that you can't stand up and do things for yourself. You can't even go back there to apologize, can you? No, you can just sit here and cry._ He let his subconscious win without a fight, and continued to sit there in the cold night.

-----------------

Will was inside the hut, still dry and fairly warm despite the pounding rain outside. He'd laid down a few blankets on the sand that he found on the boat to keep the sand off of him, and he'd made a pillow out of a few remaining palm leaves. All in all it was a fine accomplishment for someone who had few skills with architecture and survival. But despite this, Will wasn't happy. All he could do was think about Jack.

At first, yelling at his boyfriend seemed like the right thing to do, and it certainly gave him some relief. But as he lay in the hut, his mind kept bugging him with the issue, and his stomach began to twists into knots. _I really hurt him, he's so sensitive. Damnit, why did I have to get so mad? I already know what Jack is like, and I love him for it anyways, so why was this any different?_

His fingers brushed the light layer of dusty dirt off of the wood above him as he quietly began to fix the hut up even more. He re-flattened the blankets, brushed particles of sand off that had gotten on, and straightened the flap of the blanket he'd used as the entrance. Even if the hut wasn't large enough to stand up in and was barely wide enough for two people, he was able to move around enough to get it how he wanted. However, even after perfecting the inside of the hut, he still felt the urge to fix up more things. As he began to contemplate fixing up the outside, a light bulb went off in his brain.

_You always clean when you've been a bad friend to Jack._

"Damnit Grace" Will muttered, crawling out of the hut onto the rain soaked sand. "Stop being right at the most inconvenient times." Instead of working on the hut, however, he took off towards the forest, determined to find his boyfriend.

----------------

There was a loud clap of thunder, and Jack jumped as the ground rumbled beneath him. _I hate thunderstorms!_ he thought, huddling closer to the tree trunk he was leaning against. _Will knows that, why hasn't he come yet? That's right, he hates you._ A second clap of thunder made him tuck his head even closer to his chest. He'd always had a fear of thunder since he was a child, and as an adult he still hadn't fully gotten over it. Being in the middle of one on a deserted island while feeling abandoned by your loved one wasn't helping the situation. _How am I ever going to get out of this…_

---------------

"Jack!" yelled Will, stumbling through the soggy undergrowth of the island forest. The wind whipped furiously around him as he thrust himself through the downpour, waves of water blocking his view. The storm seemed to have increased tenfold inside the cluster of trees, and there had been no sign of Jack amidst the chaos. Will couldn't even remember how long he'd been searching, but he didn't care if it took all night, there was only one thought on his mind. _Jack, WHERE ARE YOU!_

A yelp escaped his lips as he tripped over a tree trunk and landed hard against the soggy ground. He stood and wiped himself off, but stopped mid-wipe as he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see Jack, huddled against the log, his white shirt matted with mud and his hair tousled and messed from the rain. His head was firmly planted between his chest and knees, and he was shaking slightly.

Will knelt in front of him, frightened and disturbed by Jack's current state of mind. "Jack?..." he asked, hoping that the man would respond. His wish was granted as Jack lifted his head slightly to see Will, who could see the fear in his boyfriend's eyes. The thing that made Will's heartstring twang was that he knew the fear wasn't just from the thunder.

"Come on Jack, let's get out of here" he said, helping the younger man up. He slid one arm around Jack's shoulders and placed his other hand in Jack's, ignoring how tightly the other man gripped his fingers. Together they began to navigate out of the chaotic foliage, oblivious now to the storm and only wrapped up in thoughts of what their next conversation would be like. Jack's heart was heavy at the prospect of what he believed was to come, and half wished the storm could swallow them up and never let them reach the beach.


End file.
